The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, asked the EU on Wednesday to act against Hamas and not to consider settlements in the occupied West Bank an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians.

During a one-hour meeting with EU Chief Herman Van Rompuy, Peres said that the EU has to act against Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip and that it is the reason for terrorism in the region.

“The EU can help us in putting an end to terror by condemning Hamas because they are the centre of terror,” Peres said. Peres also spoke about Hezbollah and the Iranian nuclear program as a threat to the region.

Rompuy, who warmly welcomed Israel’s president, hailed the EU-Israeli relations and said that there were several steps being taken to improve them. “We appreciate their [relations] relevance and richness,” Van Rompuy said, adding that they agreed “to seek further ways to expand them.”

Nevertheless, he criticised Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank and called settlement expansion “illegal.”

However, Peres dismissed the criticism and blamed the deadlock in the peace process as the main reason for tension in the region. He went on to assert that the settlement issue was resolved through a land swap agreement.

Peres seemed optimistic over the resumption of peace negotiations after the recent US and Israeli elections. He said: “I don’t think the opportunity to make peace is over. There is a new chance to reopen negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.”

On his part, Rompuy explained the EU position on the peace process: “I underlined the EU’s determination to continue supporting the peace process through its various instruments … as well as its commitment to the security of Israel, including with regard to vital threats in the region,” Rompuy said.

“There will be no sustainable peace until the Palestinian’s aspirations for statehood and sovereignty and those of Israelis for security are fulfilled through a comprehensive and negotiated peace based on the two-State solution,” he added.

LAW

“States may not deport or transfer parts of their own civilian population into a territory they occupy.”

Summary

State practice establishes this rule as a norm of customary international law applicable in international armed conflicts. International armed conflicts

The prohibition on deporting or transferring parts of a State’s own civilian population into the territory it occupies is set forth in the Fourth Geneva Convention.[1]

It is a grave breach of Additional Protocol I.[2]

Under the Statute of the International Criminal Court, “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”constitutes a war crimein international armed conflicts.[3]

Many military manuals prohibit the deportation or transfer by a party to the conflict of parts of its civilian population into the territory it occupies.[4]

This rule is included in the legislation of numerous States.[5]

Official statements and reported practice also support the prohibition on transferring one’s own civilian population into occupied territory.[6]

Attempts to alter the demographic composition of an occupied territory have been condemned by the UN Security Council.[7]

In 1992, it called for the cessation of attempts to change the ethnic composition of the population, anywhere in the former Yugoslavia.[8]

Similarly, the UN General Assembly and UN Commission on Human Rights have condemned settlement practices.[9]

According to the final report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Dimensions of Population Transfer, including the Implantation of Settlers and Settlements, “the implantation of settlers” is unlawful and engages State responsibility and the criminal responsibility of individuals.[10]

In 1981, the 24th International Conference of the Red Cross reaffirmed that “settlements in occupied territory are incompatible with article 27 and 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention”.[11]

In the Case of the Major War Criminals in 1946, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg found two of the accused guilty of attempting the “Germanization” of occupied territories.[12]

[10] UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights, Final report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Dimensions of Population Transfer, including the Implantation of Settlers and Settlements (ibid., § 415).

[12] International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Case of the Major War Criminals, Judgement (ibid., § 421).

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